Questions to Answer:
What Happened to Daniel? I can't say yet—but I do promise this question will be answered in time. Knowing Cora, however, what do you think happened? Is he alive or dead?
Chapter Fourteen—"Secrets Revealed"
Regina went to visit Graham as soon as she got off of work. Her mother would have had her head if she left early, of course—Cora was about as compassionate as a dead tree and demanded perfection from everyone in the mayor's office—but Cora couldn't stop her from going to the hospital in her off time. The curse had made Graham her friend here in Storybrooke, and even though Regina now remembered him as the Huntsman, she couldn't forget the very real times that Graham had been a good friend to her here, either. And he always tried to help us back home, even if Mother usually stopped him, she thought sadly, standing in the doorway.
Graham looked dead. He wasn't, and Regina knew that—Whale had assured her of it, and although she had no idea who the doctor had been in a past life, at least the curse seemed to have given him the required knowledge to do his job well—but he was so damn pale and lifeless that it broke her heart. Half a day after the accident, Whale had regretfully announced that Graham would probably never walk again…a fact that was depressingly easy to believe when you looked at the sheriff's broken body lying in the bed. He had yet to wake at all, and no one was sure if he would ever do so. Just thinking of that made Regina's blood boil with fury, because she knew this had been no accident. Everyone else in Storybrooke might think that Graham had been unlucky or careless, but she knew exactly who was responsible.
"It's such a waste, isn't it, darling?" her mother suddenly purred from her side, making Regina jump.
"Mother," she replied through gritted teeth. "I thought you had already visited."
"Can I not visit again? Graham is an old friend of the family."
One whom you force into your bed occasionally, thanks to having his heart, Regina didn't say, much though she wanted to snarl that in response. At least that was at an end; if Graham really was paralyzed, he'd be spared Cora's attentions. Still, she could not afford to say any of that; she had to be sweet and obedient Regina Nolan, and say: "Of course he is."
"Still, I suppose that there is a silver lining in every cloud," Cora mused. "I did avail myself of the opportunity to fire Miss Swan now that Graham is unable to voice his opinion on the matter, and that will at least get Henry's birth mother out of his life for you."
"You what?" Regina twisted to stare at her mother.
"You heard me, and you're quite welcome."
"I don't have any problems with Miss Swan," Regina shot back before she could stop herself.
"Well, you should, dear. She threatens everything you and David have so carefully built with Henry, and I will not stand for it. She'll have to leave Storybrooke now that she has no means to support herself." Cora might have thought that her dutiful daughter missed the slight smile that tugged at her lips, but Regina did not. "After all, it's not like Mary Margaret Blanchard can support a second person with her debts."
"And whose fault are those?" The words were out before she thought of them, and Regina bit her tongue too late.
Cora blinked innocently. "I believe you'd have to ask Mr. Gold about that. He's her principle creditor."
"Of course he is," Regina muttered.
"What's gotten into you, darling?"
Your curse! she wanted to shout, but managed to snap instead: "My friend is lying there and might not wake up ever again. Isn't that enough?"
"Of course it is." A hand landed on Regina's arm and squeezed, but it took all of her self control not to jerk away. She had rarely hated her mother as much as she did now; Regina could only think of three times when she had felt this boiling rage so strongly, and she devoutly wished that there was magic in Storybrooke. Had there been, she might have tried to kill her mother then and there.
Not that trying that had gotten her very far in the past, but Regina was almost beyond caring.
"I'm going to stay awhile, Mother," she said, clinging to the shredded remnants of her self control. "I'm sure you have better things to do than waste your time here."
"Regina, I'm hurt. Why would I not want to come look after Graham?"
"Probably because he's of no use to you now," she said bitterly.
"That's a terrible thing to say," Cora pouted, but Regina was anything but fooled. She was not expecting it, however, when her mother took her by the arm and tugged her inside Graham's empty hospital room (empty except for the still-unconscious sheriff, anyway) and closed the door behind them. "What has gotten into you?"
It was the second time Cora had asked that exact question, and Regina's instincts screamed a warning. Slowly, she turned to look at her mother.
"What do you mean, Mother?" she asked cautiously, being careful to temper her tone into a more subservient one than she'd used thus far. But doing so was really hard; she was still seething with anger.
"I mean that you have been acting strangely, and something is clearly going on. What is it?"
"Nothing," Regina replied quickly. "I'm just…worried for Graham."
That had to be enough. Cora had to believe her, right? But her mother's sharp eyes were studying Regina intently, and she had a bad feeling that Cora saw right through her excuses. She should have minded her tongue more carefully. This was not the first time Regina had watched helplessly while her mother destroyed someone she cared for; however, now Regina really had had enough.
"Of course you are," Cora repeated, her voice dropping dangerously. "But you should blame our visitor for this tragedy, not Graham."
"What?"
An artful shrug. "Well, none of this would have happened if Miss Swan had not begun interfering."
"How is this her fault?" Regina demanded, completely unable to follow her mother's logic.
"Now that, my darling girl, is what I want you to tell me," Cora replied, her voice turning icy and her eyes hard.
"I don't know what you mean," she said nervously.
"Don't lie to me, Regina. I know you remember everything." Her mother smiled dangerously. "You are not as good of an actress as you seem to think you are. What I want to know is why you remember."
"I—"
"I said not to lie to me. I can destroy this lovely little life of yours with the wave of one hand, beginning with Henry."
"He's your grandson!"
A poisonous snake might have smiled much like this. "He's adopted, dear. Henry isn't your blood, or mine."
"He's still my son!" Regina objected, feeling the color drain out of her face as the walls of her mother's trap closed in. The mask had dropped, and Cora clearly felt no need to play the mild-mannered mayor now. This was the Evil Queen facing Regina, a woman who had killed two husbands and tried for years to kill her stepdaughter, all because Snow was the daughter of a woman she hated. This was the Queen of Hearts, who had undoubtedly smiled with satisfaction as she held Graham's heart in her hand, forcing him to crash his squad car into a restaurant owned by a man who had dared speak against her. Once.
Cora just shrugged again, arching one silent eyebrow. She didn't need to say anything more. Regina got the hint.
"It's been twenty-eight years," she hedged, not daring to lie but struggling to hide the more vital information. "I woke up."
"Why now?" The tone was mild, but Regina was not fooled. Cora mused: "It seems such a coincidence that you would do so just when Miss Swan arrived."
"She's an outsider." Regina tried to shrug casually. "She made things change—"
"Then I suppose I should kill her," was the airy response. "And then you will return to your usual well-behaved self. I don't mind a little change—it keeps things interesting—but this is a bit much."
"You can't!"
Were Regina as cold blooded as Rumplestiltskin, she would just let her mother do it. But killing Emma would break Henry's heart in addition to the curse, and Emma was Snow's daughter. She was family, Regina's niece and David's daughter, too. In an odd way, Emma was actually Regina's stepdaughter, too, and although the Savior drove Regina crazy sometimes, and odd sort of friendship had grown between them.
"Of course I can," Cora said serenely. "Accidents happen."
"No, you can't." She hated herself already, but it would keep Emma safe. And Henry. "Not if you want your curse to remain intact."
Cora blinked. "Oh, so Rumple did put in a safety valve. He hinted as much."
"I wouldn't know."
But that was a lie her mother saw right through. A small smile flickered across Cora's face, secretive and all-knowing.
"Snow's 'dead' child," the Evil Queen realized slowly. "Born on the eve of the curse, and snuck through to this world. Clever, but you lied to me, Regina."
"I protected my family," she snarled, looking her mother right in the eye.
Cora only laughed. "Yes, you always have been so good at protecting those you love, haven't you?"
Those words cut in like a knife to the heart, and faces slashed through Regina's mind, the faces of those she had loved and failed to protect. Cora, however, just patted her on the shoulder.
"Love is weakness, dear. I thought you would have learned that by now."
5 Years Before the Curse
Snow had been held under guard in her own rooms after Leopold's death, right up until the farce of a trial that Cora did not bother to attend. A quartet of noble lords questioned the princess while the 'grieving queen' sequestered herself in her chambers with Regina by her side. Horrified, Regina watched as her mother held Snow's heart, forcing her to say that her ambition had driven the princess to murder her father, that Snow was tired of waiting for the king to die of natural causes and admitted to giving him the poison. Snow did not weep—Cora's hold on her heart prevented that—and she came off as cold, callous, and murderous. Needless to say, the trial did not last long, and the guards moved Snow to a dungeon the moment the guilty verdict came down.
Regina snuck down to see her that very night. She was very practiced at visiting the dungeons given how long Daniel had spent in there—nearly ten years, now—but at least Snow was not housed in the lower levels where there was no light at all. Snow's cell even had a window, small and barred though it was, and the moonlight bathed Snow's pale face in an eerie light. Snow was curled up against one wall, her knees pulled up close to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. Her head was tipped back to lean against the wall and her eyes closed; she looked almost like a corpse, and Regina might have been worried were Snow's shoulders not shaking so hard.
She was crying when Regina arrived, and didn't even seem to notice when Regina's glare forced the guards back several paces. Regina no longer cared what the guards saw, though. What were they going to do, tell Cora that Regina had visited her sister?
"Snow?" she whispered.
"Regina!" her sister's head snapped forward and her eyes flew open. She jumped to her feet immediately and came to the front of the cell, which gave Regina a good look at her tear-streaked face. "What are you doing here?"
The unspoken question of Why weren't you at my trial? hung between them, so Regina answered that instead:
"Mother wouldn't let me go to the trial," she whispered, ashamed. "I wanted to defend you, but…"
"But she wants me dead," Snow finished for her, sounding utterly defeated. "Just like my father."
"I'm so sorry. I couldn't stop her. I tried, but she's too powerful."
Snow shook her head and managed a small smile. "It's not your fault. I know who to blame."
"I'm still sorry," Regina said around the heavy lump in her throat.
"Me, too," Snow replied, reaching through the bars. The sisters gripped one another's hands tightly, holding on for dear life. "When she executes me, you'll be all alone."
"Don't say that! She can't think—"
"The date is already set," her sister cut her off bitterly. "Four days from now. Cora even says she'll give me back my heart tomorrow so that I can feel every moment leading up to it."
Regina squeezed her hand hard, anger and determination giving her strength. "I'm not letting that happen."
"Regina…"
"Say nothing. I'll talk to Mother."
That last bit was said solely for the guards' benefit, but what Regina meant—and what Snow understood—was that she had work to do. Four days wasn't much, but she was a sorceress. She could do this. She could save her sister from Cora, could save Snow when she hadn't been able to save Daniel. Regina had learned a thing or two since then, and she'd start by distracting her mother with a heartfelt plea for Snow's life. Then she'd act, after Cora had given Snow her heart back and had no way to control her if she escaped.
"I'll be back," she promised, releasing Snow's hands and stepping away from the cell. Her mind was already whirling, thinking on what kingdom would accept an exiled princess, and Regina strode out of the dungeons with her head held high.
Rumplestiltskin supposed he would have done this even had Cora not unilaterally named the noxious Sheriff of Nottingham to that same position in Storybrooke, but the fact that the miserable lowlife had once tried to bargain for Belle only made the situation sweeter. Keith Law was a real piece of work, too, a lecherous drunk who tried to stalk Lacey French and frightened her more than once. Rumplestiltskin was more than happy to ruin his life, just as Gold would have been, and the way Cora would be irked by his actions only added icing to the cake. He would take any victory he could get at this point, and this one would be sweet, if subtle.
So he knocked on Mary Margaret Blanchard's loft door with an easy smile on his face, and if the expression made poor, cursed Snow White uneasy, well, that was too bad. "I'm here to see Miss Swan," he said before Mary Margaret could speak. "Your rent isn't due for another week."
"Oh. Right," Mary Margaret stuttered. "Of course." She turned away, shouting quickly: "Emma! You have a visitor!"
"Coming!"
Mary Margaret looked at him nervously, eying the large three ring binder Rumplestiltskin held in his hand. "Won't you come in?"
"Thank you," Rumplestiltskin replied courteously. Cora had done enough damage to her stepdaughter; he saw no reason to do more. Making her into a shaking mess would not further his purposes in any way. Fortunately, Emma came down the stairs quickly, looking suspiciously at Rumplestiltskin. Good for her.
"What are you doing here, Gold? Come to call in that favor already?" she demanded.
He laughed softly. "Oh, no. I'm actually here to offer you some assistance."
Emma blinked. "Excuse me?"
"May I?" Rumplestiltskin walked over to the table and put the binder down, gesturing meaningfully.
"Sure." The Savior continued to watch him warily, but sat down across from him without hesitation. Rumplestiltskin usually preferred to conduct business while standing, but having a cane was a major nuisance when he needed two hands for something.
"I think I'll go take a bath," Mary Margaret announced into the silence as Rumplestiltskin flipped to the appropriate page. Neither he nor Emma bothered to watch her flee.
"I understand that our dear mayor fired you," he said as an opening.
"And named Keith as Sheriff," she confirmed bitterly, and Rumplestiltskin barely managed not to smile. Emma Swan was invested in Storybrooke, now, and in more than just young Henry Nolan. That was excellent. Better than I'd dared imagine, truth be told.
"Ah, but if you take the time to examine the Storybrooke charter, you'll find that she can't exactly do that," he countered. "It's amazing how few people bother to read the document."
"So what does it say?" Emma asked impatiently.
Now Rumplestiltskin allowed himself to smile. "That the office of sheriff is decided by a city-wide election, not by the mayor's whim. She can't simply choose a sheriff, not if someone runs against him."
The Savior was no fool; she caught on immediately. "You want me to run. I wouldn't stand a chance."
"Not without a benefactor, no."
"And you're volunteering."
"Indeed I am."
Emma's eyes narrowed skeptically. "Why?"
"Call me a concerned citizen," he shrugged. "And I believe you have…potential to make a difference here in Storybrooke."
"What do you want me to do?" she asked suspiciously, leaning back and crossing her arms. "Nothing is free with you."
"Oh, this one will be its own reward," he replied, already imagining Cora's reaction. "Just put your name out there, and let me do the rest."
As the Curse is Cast
"Back already, Your Majesty? I thought you'd be too busy celebrating your victory to visit little ol' me," he giggled, watching as the swirl of purple smoke resolved into his onetime lover and student.
It was about time she showed up. He was sick to death of this rat-invested cell, thoroughly tired of solitary confinement and just ready to get on with it. Three months locked in this hellhole was starting to do damage to his sanity, and his curse had been positively howling for release ever since he'd let them lock him in this place. Oh, he could have escaped, but he'd been waiting for this moment, waiting for Cora to come to him for one final deal. And now it was time.
"Oh, I am," Cora purred, her eyes glittering darkly. "I simply wanted to say goodbye to an old friend, first."
"And you wanted something."
The Evil Queen shrugged. "I wanted to offer you an opportunity, a better life than the one I promised you."
"Oh, did you, now?" Here it came, his opportunity to twist the curse to his own ends. Rumplestiltskin had known Cora would come. Truth be told, he'd looked forward to this day, out of boredom if nothing else. Possibilities whirled in his mind; Rumplestiltskin had already set his own second safety valve into the curse to protect his family, but he would take whatever else Cora offered if he could. Carefully.
"I've missed you, Rumple." Boldly, Cora stepped forward, reaching through the bars to touch his face. "Rule by my side in this new world, and I will give you everything you desire, and more."
Scowling, he drew back. Now he wasn't laughing at all, not even sarcastically. "You burned me once, dear, and I've a long memory."
"Don't test me," Cora snapped more angrily than he would have expected. She did want him, then. Pity it was too late. "I am offering you the world. You would do better to bend your foolish pride and accept."
Rumplestiltskin scoffed. "Your curse isn't as infallible as you think."
"Of course it isn't. You're never that simple." She shrugged regally. "What did you do?"
Ah, there was his opening. Her offer had been unexpected, but this was not. Rumplestiltskin might have had to manipulate the conversation around to this point, but he had her now.
"Give me the power to determine two individuals' fate under your curse, and I will tell you everything," he offered.
"Two people? Why?"
He shrugged and offered her a nasty smile, all blackened teeth and rotten soul. "There are small revenges I would enact."
It was not an answer to her question, not quite, but Cora need not know that. He dared not tell her the full truth, not if he wanted Belle and Gabrielle to be safe.
Cora studied him for a long moment, and Rumplestiltskin met her eyes. She was smart and tricky, this woman he had once loved, but he had been playing this game far longer than she. Still, she watched him carefully, her intelligent eyes calculating and then narrowing ominously.
"No," she finally said. "I don't think I will."
"And here I thought you were enjoying your vengeance," Rumplestiltskin replied lightly, cocking his head. "Would you deny me the same?"
"Yes. Yes, I believe I will," Cora replied. "Goodbye, Rumplestiltskin. I will see you soon."
Missing the threat in her voice was impossible, but Rumplestiltskin giggled anyway, as if he was a mad creature who did not care for her power. Cora started to disappear, but he called after her:
"Sooner than you think, dearie!"
Then Cora was gone, leaving Rumplestiltskin alone in his dark cell without the guarantee that he had sought. Still, he had planned for this eventuality, had known he might not get what he wanted despite his best efforts. Cora did not know he had a wife and child; she didn't know Belle even existed. Thus, she should pay them little attention in their new world, and his family would be treated like any of the other thousands of innocents who got caught up in the curse, receiving generalized misery but no special cruelties. But the hunger in Cora's eyes worried Rumplestiltskin, and he was still wondering why that made a cold chill run down his spine when the curse cloud arrived.
Emma announced her candidacy the next day, and Henry volunteered to help her and Mary Margaret put flyers up all over town. Regina was strangely quiet on the matter, but David tagged along, laughing and joking with Mary Margaret like they had known one each other their entire lives, despite what Henry seemed to think. Hell, maybe they had known one another forever. Storybrooke was a small town—although not as small as its residents seemed to think, a fact Emma discovered every time she did rounds as a deputy—and they probably had gone to school together. After all, Storybrooke only had one high school, and Emma didn't think Mary Margaret and David's ages were very far apart at all.
Even if the fact that neither of them could really remember school in more than vague terms was pretty disturbing. Just another thing that's weird in this town, Emma told herself, and tried not to think about it.
Regardless, they finished posting the flyers that same afternoon, freeing Emma to pay Graham another visit the following morning. He was awake, if groggy, and Emma was so glad to see him alive that she almost got a little choked up.
"Whale says that I might regain feeling in my legs," Graham was telling her with a tired smile. "Apparently—and there was a lot of medical mumbo jumbo that I missed in there—he's a brilliant surgeon and might be able to fix me."
Emma couldn't help snorting. "And he's so modest, too."
Graham laughed, but it turned into a strained cough. At least he was off oxygen now, and his pallor had stopped matching the bed sheets quite so exactly, but he still looked like hell. "Always has been."
"It's good to see you awake," she replied, reaching out tentatively to squeeze his hand.
"It's good to be awake, yeah," he agreed, but then Emma saw Graham's gaze shift off of her face and to her left, which made Emma glance over her shoulder, hoping the new visitor was someone she at least got along with.
Unfortunately, it was Cora. The mayor gave her a patronizing smile before looking at the man lying in bed. "Graham, dear, it's so good to see you awake."
Was it only Emma's imagination, or did the former sheriff go even more pale?
"Cora," he said levelly, looking very wary.
"We need to have a chat when you are feeling better," Cora purred. "But for now, I've talked to your doctor about adding some anti-psychotic medications to your daily regimen. After all, we can't have you repeating that episode from the other morning, babbling about fairy tales and missing hearts."
"Of course not," Graham replied through gritted teeth, and Emma felt her gaze snapping back and forth between the two of them. Something was wrong, but what?
Nothing made sense in this damn town.
"I'm glad we understand one another," the mayor continued, and then turned to Emma. "A word, if you please, Miss Swan?"
"You gonna be okay?" She looked at Graham instead of at Cora, and got a tired nod out of him.
"Go on," he said, looking as if he didn't want to talk to anyone, anymore.
So, Emma rose and followed Cora into the hallway, which was strangely deserted except for a red-haired nurse down the other end who didn't seem to be listening. The mayor's smile vanished the moment they left Graham's private room, and when she turned on Emma, her eyes were hard. Cora Mills was undoubtedly one of the most dangerous people Emma had ever met, but if she thought a glare could intimidate Emma Swan, well, Cora really did have another thing coming. Emma only straightened her shoulders and cocked an eyebrow at the woman who seemed to inexplicably hate her, and waited.
"I think you should not visit Graham like this. It only confuses him," Cora said archly.
"Confuses him? Lady, I think you're on another planet. Graham's perfectly fine, and he needs all the friends he can get."
"Well, you won't be one of them. While Graham is disabled, I am his medical proxy, and I filed a temporary restraining order against you this morning," the mayor replied smugly. "So, stay away from him."
"Why?" Emma demanded.
"I think you're a toxic influence on my town, and I will root you out, no matter what it takes." Surprisingly enough, the words were said almost conversationally, but Emma certainly caught the threat. It wasn't even subtle.
"Look, Madam Mayor, if anyone here is toxic, it's you. And I bet that restraining order won't stand up for a minute in court," she snapped back, bristling. Graham was her friend, damn it, and Emma wasn't going to leave him to face this alone.
"Won't it?" Cora cocked her head. "You were the one who got him drunk the night before his accident. If anyone is at fault, it's you."
"I didn't get him drunk! He was sober when he went home." And talking about needing to find his missing heart, but that didn't count for drunk. They'd only had two drinks each on that date.
"Graham will testify that you did."
Emma stared. "He'll what?"
Cora just smiled. "Goodbye, Miss Swan. May I recommend leaving Storybrooke before the scandal breaks? I can't imagine that anyone will want to elect a former juvenile delinquent as sheriff, either, so your ambitions are bound to come to nothing."
"Those records are supposed to be sealed."
"Oops." A shrug, and then Cora turned to walk away.
Emma had had it. Reaching out quickly, she grabbed the mayor by the arm and pulled her around so that they were face to face. "You must not know me very well, Madam Mayor, but I don't respond really well to threats. You might think you can scare me into leaving, but that only makes me want to stay more. You tell your boy Keith to expect a fight, because I'm damn well going to be elected Sheriff."
A/N:Oh, dear! What do you think is going to happen now that Cora knows Regina remembers and Rumplestiltskin is pulling Emma's strings?
Next up: Chapter Fifteen—"Reap What You Sow", where Hansel and Gretel are thieves, Emma makes a mistake with Keith, and Sidney Glass volunteers to help Emma. Back in the past, the Sheriff of Nottingham comes to Rumplestiltskin for a deal, a genie falls in love with Princess Regina, and Rumplestiltskin visits Cora after her wedding to Leopold.